Student Haiku Contest 2026
Application Period: January 1 - March 2, 2026
Eligibility: Any teacher can enter his or her students’ haiku poems. (We have discontinued the former eligibility requirement of attending an instructional workshop. This contest is open for every teacher who wants to enter.)
Regulations: Only poems that have not been previously published or submitted to a contest are eligible. Each student may submit up to three haiku, but no teacher may submit more than 40 poems from his or her students.
NEW - German Division We are excited to introduce German as the sixth language division in the Student Haiku Contest. The contest now features seven categories, including the SDGs category open to all languages.
College Divisions: Please note that all submissions must be made by college instructors or professors; individual students cannot apply independently.
Submission :
Submission Format: Haiku entries must be organized by division, with each division compiled into its own separate document. Entries from different divisions (e.g., Middle School and High School) cannot be combined in the same file. You may upload up to five separate documents, each representing a different division, within a single submission form.
Submission Files: Please Read Carefully! ★Beginning in 2026, we will accept only typed submissions. Please make sure all haiku and student information are submitted in typed form.
To ensure proper formatting for contest submissions, please compile all the haiku entries from the same division into a single file. The pages should be organized as follows:
- Page 1: Haiku of the first student
- Page 2: Personal information of the first student
- Include:
- Student name (First, Last)
- Grade
- School name
- City and state
- Teacher name
- Include:
Example:
Taro Smith, Grade 9
United Nations International School, NY
Teacher: Ms. Hanako Yamada
- Page 3: Haiku of the second student
- Page 4: Personal information of the second student
Please repeat this pattern for each subsequent student.
Important Note: When printed double-sided, this layout ensures that each haiku appears on the front side, with the corresponding author information on the back. Please submit only one haiku per page. Do not place multiple haiku on a single page, even if they are written by the same student.
How to name files: Please name the document in the following order.
Language/Division/-teacher's name
Examples: English Elementary division Haiku = eelem-teacher's name (e=English) (elem= Elementary)
Japanese Middle school division Haiku =jmid-teacher's name (j=Japanese) ) (mid= middle school)
French High school division haiku = fhs-teacher's name (f=French) (hs = high school)
Italian High school division Haiku = ihs-teacher’s name (i=Italian) (hs = high school)
Spanish SDG Haiku = ssdg-teacher's name (s=Spanish)
File format:
Please use one of the following formats, google doc, word, or PDF.
If you are a PC user and have trouble uploading word, please choose one of the following:
Option 1 - upload your word document in google drive and upload the file from there.
Option 2 - upload the files as PDF.
Submission file format:
Please use one of the following formats, google doc, word, or PDF, when you upload the files. If you are a PC user and have trouble uploading word, please choose one of the following:
Option 1 - upload your word document in google drive and upload the file from there.
Option 2 - upload the files as PDF.
Divisions:
English (4 divisions): Elementary (1-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12), College / Teacher
French (3 divisions): Elementary School (1-5), Middle & High School (6-12), College / Teacher
German (3 divisions): Elementary School (1-5), Middle & High School (6-12), Teacher
Italian (2 divisions): Elementary School (1-5), Middle & High School (6-12)
Japanese (5 divisions): Elementary (1-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12) , College, Teacher division*
Spanish (2 divisions): Elementary School (1-5), Middle & High School (6-12)
Other Languages: No division
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) division: All Languages
Awards Ceremony: Saturday, June 6, 2026
Venue: UNIS
24-50 FDR Drive, New York, NY 10010
We kindly ask applicants to take a few moments to complete the questionnaire provided by the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations. Your feedback is invaluable in helping us reflect on this year’s contest and plays a particularly important role in planning and improving the following year’s Student Haiku Contest. Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.
Please fill out this survey form
Further questions:mlcnyusa@gmail.com and mmasuya@unis.org
Organizers: Movement for Language and Culture, UNIS Japanese Program
Sponsors: Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, United Nations International School, Red Moon Press, The Heron’s & Japan Foundation